


The Mundane Can Be the Most Interesting

by Jordanicus_Prime



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst, Characters Playing Pokemon GO, College Search, Gen, Growing Up, I want this to be more fluff than angst, Optimus Prime needs a BREAK, Optimus gets hurt, Slice of Life, Team Prime needs a break, advice from optimus, but they are in a war :/, did i add something that shouldve been in an episode, we'll see how angsty this gets, yes - Freeform, yes i did
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2020-07-24 01:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20018089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jordanicus_Prime/pseuds/Jordanicus_Prime
Summary: When there's no one at base, the kids find an unusual addition to their shenanigans.Or how Optimus gets wrapped up in human shenanigans more that he'd expect





	1. Where Are We Going

Stepping out of the front doors of their school the last Autobot they expected to see was Optimus Prime's vehicle mode sitting in the back of the parking lot trying to blend in. The three humans began quickly making their way to the semi truck before too many of their fellow classmates got curious. Of course, Jack and Raf quickly picked up on the slouch in Miko's shoulders as they approached.

  
"What gives Miko?" Jack asked. "You're always going on about wanting to spend more time with Optimus, why the sudden long face?"

  
Miko sighed, "Bulkhead and I were supposed to go Pokemon hunting today." She summarized as Jack rolled his eyes.

  
"What is this 2016? You still play Pokemon Go?" Jack teased as Miko playfully punched his arm. They arrived at the semi and the doors opened for them to get in.

  
"Pokemon Go?" Optimus asked as the kids put their backpacks down and put on their seatbelts.

  
Raf piped up to answer first, "It's just an old game where you go around catching little characters that you use to fight later, Miko was hoping to go Pokemon hunting today."

  
The following silence from Optimus showed that he still wasn't following.

  
"Well, first it's not that old." Miko sent a glare at Jack and Raf. "Second, it's just an adaptation of actually old games but instead of catching these little guys on a console you have them on your phone." Mikoe held up her phone proudly showing off the Growlithe she had just caught to show that no actual creatures were harmed in the game. "And it's supposed to be more interactive because you have to actually go out to catch and battle the Pokemon."

  
"And you were hoping to go play this game today?" Optimus added once Miko gave him a satisfactory explanation.

  
"Yeah, but if you're here it means the base must be empty, we need to get back there huh?" Miko asked.

  
"I'm afraid so." Optimus stated as he began moving down the road towards the base. Fortunately, Miko didn't seem to upset when after a minute she launched into an animated retelling of her day.  
The incident seemed to be forgotten.

\-----------------  
That Saturday the kids were lounging on the couch in the base when Optimus approached. All three kids looked up at the titan when his optics fell on Miko.

  
"I believe you are owed some Pokemon hunting?" Optimus asked with a small smile on his face.

  
The three humans could barely believe what they were seeing but were shocked out of their silence when Raf pulled out his phone. "Can I come too?" he squeaked, making sure the app was still present on his phone.

  
Optimus nodded and Miko and Raf practically leapt off the couch. "You're welcome to come as well, Jack." Optimus offered.

  
Jack just chuckled to himself and stood. "Wait just a second, I've got to redownload the app."

  
All three children piled in and immediately began discussing which team was the best. After a few moments Optimus interrupetd.

  
"Where might be the best location to find Pokemon?" Optimus asked, his natural tone making it sound more like they were finding relics as opposed to finding imaginary creatures.

  
"Downtown?" Miko suggested, earning a nod from Jack and a shrug from Raf. Optimus began driving to the location.  
The hours flew by and Pokemon hunting became lunch and people-watching and filling Optimus in on everything happening at school.

  
Finally, as the sun was setting and they began returning to base, Miko asked a question that had been on her mind all day.

  
"So, what made you take a whole day to go drive around the *fascinating* Jasper Nevada with three teenagers?" Miko asked playing with a piece of hair. Her question perked the interest of the boys who looked at Optimus' steering wheel for an answer.

  
The Autobot insignia in the middle lit up as he answered. "Ratchet has recently been stressing that I should make better use of my time off and actually relax, get away from base, and take my mind off of everything. The other members of Team Prime were handling the duties around base today and since I interrupted your plansI figured this would be the best way to make it up to you and heed Ratchet's advice."

  
The three humans nodded."You're welcome to hang out with us anytime." Raf added to which the other humans agreed. "I may have to take you up on that sometime." Optimus replied before a contented silence fell over the semi and his occupants.


	2. Growing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids think about what comes after high school and Optimus is stuck in the middle.

Few people would describe life with giant robots that could transform into cars as boring but that's all Jack could feel as he scrolled through another college application. The base was practically empty, save the three humans and Optimus Prime watching the screens in front of him for any unusual activity.

  
As if he could read Jack's computer through the back of his laptop Raf asked, "I heard your mom say something about college applications, where are you looking at going?"

  
Jack closed his laptop with a sigh, "Like I haven't heard that question enough over the past few months." Jack paused, when he met the Autobots he'd just been a sophomore in high school but now it was early in his senior year and he knew the sooner he applied the better. "I'm not sure, I'm basing this off what I want to major in but I don't know what I want to do."

  
"You have to have some ideas." Miko added, "C'mon, there's nothing that 5-year-old Jack desperately wants that 17-year-old Jack wants?"

  
"Well, I always wanted to be an astronaut but the whole trip to Cybertron last winter kind of checked that off my list." Jack mumbled, earning dry chuckles from Raf and Miko. At the mention of Jack's trip to Cybertron, it was obvious that Optimus was listening in. Jack just glanced up and opened his laptop back up. "I mean, all this stuff with Team Prime has made me kind of want to go into government work. But, what if I want to have a like normal life outside of this?" Jack asked the dark screen reflecting his confused face back at him.

  
"Hm, I've always known what I wanted to do." Miko hummed.

  
"And what would that be?" Raf asked with an eyebrow raised.

  
"Duh, I'm gonna be a rockstar!" Miko exclaimed, causing Jack and Raf to roll their eyes. "Of course, by day I'll be Miko Nakadai, rockstar extraordinaire, by night I'll be the fiercest human wrecker on Earth." She stood and bounced on the balls of her feet and threw a few punches through the air. Seeing the amused look on Raf's face she asked, "Ok, Mr. Hacker, what do you want to do?"

  
"Well, I've always thought about software design, I'm not sure what exactly but it's something I enjoy and I'm actually kind of good at it." Raf answered. "But over the past few months, I've been thinking government work too, so....." he trailed off with a shrug.

  
"Hey, Optimus," Jack called, causing Optimus to fully turn his head towards the humans. "If we wanted to like work with you guys, I mean is that possible? I know Fowler's the liaison for you guys, but surely there's a way we could help you guys more."

  
"Yeah, and get paid." Miko added. Leave it to her to ask the hard questions.

  
Optimus paused, "Your presence has been of great assistance to us over the past several months, however I fear that your greater involvement would create more risk for you three." The kids deflated at the comment before he continued. "But, I could put in a word with Agent Fowler when the time comes to create positions here for you that limit the risk you encounter. I do believe that before our time here is over Team Prime will find that it relies more on human aid than we, or Ratchet, would believe."

  
Seeming satisfied by that answer, Raf asked. "Before the war, what did you want to do? Did you always want to be an archivist?"

  
Optimus smiled softly at the question. "When I was young, I was indecisive. As I grew older I began learning of the injustices on Cybertron and began using my free time to trace the issues back to their roots. I found myself drawn into the planet's history and found a desire in myself to protect it. After that I became an archivist and for a long time I was unsure about this decision. Soon after, I met the great archivist Alpha Trion and it was then that I felt what I was doing was my true calling."

  
"And all that stopped when the war started." Miko stated sadly.

  
"Unfortunately, yes. But, hopefully one day when the war is over, I will be able to put my knowledge to use and avoid the injustices that caused the war in the first place." Optimus finished. An alert on the screen caught his attention. "Good luck on your applications Jack, if you ever need someone to listen, know you can call upon me." With that Optimus turned and Jack nodded in understanding.

  
\------------  
Nearly a year later, the summer after Jack had graduated, Agent Fowler approached him.

  
"Heard you may want to make your time with the 'Bots a paying gig?" Fowler asked, sitting beside Jack.

  
"Yes, absolutely." he answered without hesitation.

  
"Well, you'll have to start as an intern, but I know Team Prime relies on you kids and if you want to make this long term, I'm sure we could."

  
Jack huffed in disbelief, he was going to have to seriously thank Optimus the next time he saw him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the read! As always leave your suggestions in the comments.


	3. Teaching is the Best Way to Learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "No one's filled you in on good ol' American history, huh Bossbot?"

The base was normally quiet during the week when the kids were at school, but given that school had been over for over an hour it was strange that the base was silent. Optimus walked through the hall towards the main hub, his footsteps far too loud for the seemingly empty silo. A shocking sight met his optics when he saw that Raf, Jack, and Miko were sitting on or around the base's couch focusing on bits of paperwork in front of them.

Miko threw her pencil down in frustration and groaned at the history assignment in front of her. "Hey Optimus." She huffed, glad for the distraction from her work.

"Hello, Miko, Raf, Jack. What are you working on?" Optimus greeted, glancing over the papers spread around the humans' common area.

“Math” Raf and Jack answered in unison, their eyes having barely left the paper except to greet Optimus.

“History” Miko droned, dramatically draping herself over the arm of the couch.

“What specific part of history?” Optimus questioned, his curiosity perked.

“You wouldn’t be interested, it’s just stuffy old stuff from the Cold War.” Miko answered, flipping over her book with a look of disgust.

“What made the war cold?” Optimus asked, only looking more confused when Jack let out a poorly muffled laugh.

“It was ‘cold’” Miko make quotation marks with her fingers to emphasize the use of the word, “because nothing really happened, just a bunch of near misses, but nothing interesting!” she summarized furiously at the past events.

Optimus just raised an optic ridge, “Is that not a good thing?”

“It’s a very good thing considering any big things would’ve meant  _ mutually assured destruction _ to the planet Miko. Besides, there were proxy wars, so there were like actual fights, and how can you not find the politics interesting?” Jack filled in having took the same class two years prior.

“Dude, we just learned about World War 2, AKA the coolest thing in history. Compared to that this is a snoozefest.” Miko explained. “I can’t answer the questions on this worksheet right now and the chapter I have to read for the is  _ so boring _ .” Miko gripped the accused paper in her hand for emphasis.

Noticing the lost look on Optimus’s face, Miko continued, “No one’s filled you in on good ol’ American history, huh Bossbot?”

Optimus merely shook his head.

“You know,” Jack raised an eyebrow in Miko’s direction, “the best way to learn is to teach, why don’t you give Optimus some history lessons?”

Miko and Optimus shared a look before Miko shrugged. "Can't hurt to try, what do you think?"

Optimus seemed hesitant, "If I can be of assistance to you, I will put forth my best effort."

"Great!" Miko grabbed her book and moved to where she could explain things to Optimus without interrupting the boys anymore.

And after taking about triple the time it would've taken to just read the chapter, Miko's worksheet was filled out.

Optimus still had several questions, which Miko and the boys who had recently finished their homework were doing there best to answer.

Finally, the children's three guardians pulled into the base, honking their horns to signal that they were back from their various duties. The conversation was soon abandoned but not before Jack promised to recommend some documentaries to help Optimus fill in the gaps that Miko's textbook couldn't provide. Soon the room was empty except for Ratchet and Optimus, who was using the last of his free time to get started on those documentaries.

"Human history?" Ratchet questioned, looking over Optimus' shoulder.

"The best way to understand the humans is to learn about their past, and it turns out Jack and I share a similar interest in the "why" crucial events happen as opposed to the events themselves." Optimus responded.

Ratchet quirked a small smile at seeing Optimus shed his burdens of leadership for a brief moment. He hadn't expected the children to provide the relaxation that he'd recommended to Optimus several times over the past centuries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Ara for the Optimus helping with homework concept. Hope you guys enjoy!


	4. Light Up the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I almost put lyrics from Katy Perry's Firework here, but nah

There was an easy quiet over the base as Optimus monitored the screens in front of him. The kids had yet to finish school and their guardians had been on patrol for most of the day and were on their way to pick them up. Ratchet was tinkering with the Groundbridge but the sound was so minimal it was easy for Optimus to ignore it and continue his work.

The quiet was interrupted by the rumbling of engines. Ratchet grumbled about how the peace never lasted long enough but Optimus could always find some strange form of contentment from the chaos that a full base could bring him. He sent a smile towards the children as they exited their guardians and greeted his fellow Autobots as they wearily trudged by him. Needless to say the energy the children, specifically Miko, brought to the base was especially chaotic.

“C’mon Bulk, we’ve been planning this trip for weeks! You can’t back out now!” Miko argued at her guardian who looked like he could recharge for 12 hours and wake up tired.

“Miko, with MECH acting out we’ve all been running extra patrols, I’m exhausted. Until we figure out what Silas is planning next I’ve got to stay at the top of my game, that means getting some rest while I can.” Bulkhead explained, the pain of letting Miko as evident as the exhaustion on his face.

Miko sighed in resignation before turning to send a begging look to Bumblebee who was laying down on the ground dramatically in his own way of saying ‘no way’.

Finally, Miko turned to Arcee who could only shrug, “There’s no way I can fit three humans on a multi-hour trip.” 

“I might can convince my mom to take us.” Jack offered pulling out his phone and causing Miko and Raf’s faces to light up. They immediately fell when he put the phone back in his pocket without dialing his mom’s number. “She’s working a late shift tonight, there’s no way she can take us to the show.”

The three guardians looked upset at disappointing the kids but beyond that they looked a few minutes away from passing out where they stood. Noticing this Miko put on a brave face.

“Guys it’s fine, there’ll be other firework shows, we’ll just go when things are less crazy. Until then a nice video game tournament would be a great way to kill the time.” She raised an eyebrow to the two boys who returned her grin. The trio raced off to the couch and began booting up the video game console.

“Well, I’m gonna go ahead and recharge, give ‘em hell Miko.” Bulkhead cheered as enthusiastically as he could before trudging off to his quarters. Arcee and Bumblebee offered similar farewells before heading their separate ways. As soon as the three Bots had left the room the children’s shoulders dropped.

“Ratchet, could you handle monitor duty this afternoon?” Optimus asked.

“Optimus are you seriously considering getting roped into the children’s failed plans, you need your rest just as much as the rest of Team Prime.” Ratchet challenged.

“While your advice is well-placed, the rest of Team Prime has gone above and beyond expectations with their patrolling this week they deserve to rest this evening. If I go with the children this evening I will be in good condition to patrol tomorrow morning.” Optimus returned.

Ratchet sighed, it appeared he was picking up some things from the humans, “Yes, I will take over monitor duty this evening. I’m glad you’re heeding my advice and taking some time to actually enjoy yourself occasionally.”

“You should heed your own advice sometime, old friend. Thank you.” Optimus smiled, he seemed to be doing that more often lately. Optimus approached the children who perked up slightly at the sight of the towering mech. “I believe I may be of assistance to the fireworks show you were anticipating.”

The three children lept off of the couch. “Are you serious?” Jack asked, a look of awe on his face.

“Yes, are you three ready to go?” Optimus asked, smiling at the wonder on their faces. There was a quick scramble to grab towels to sit on and snacks for the show but within ten minutes the trio of kids and their unlikely addition were on the road.

Once the excitement faded the ride fell into a comfortable silence. Although Miko is never quite comfortable with silence. “You ever heard of Slash Monkey?” Miko asked.

“No.” Optimus replied apprehensive from the groans he heard from Jack and Raf at Miko’s question.

Miko also sensing pushback coming from the two boys proposed an option, “Guys, Optimus probably knows next to nothing about human music, what if we took turns picking music?”

“I can live with taking turns.” Raf offered, ever the diplomat. Jack nodded his agreement.

“Sound good Bossbot?” Miko asked, to which Optimus agreed.

The two hours it took to get to the site of the firework show was filled with Miko playing her picks from her favorite metal bands and the occasional Broadway ballad. Raf played some of his favorite selections from his favorite video games and to Jack and Miko’s surprise quite the selection of hip-hop. Jack brought to the table several what he called “oldies but goodies” which caused Miko to roll her eyes although she was nodding her head along to the music regardless. 

As Optimus rolled up to the field where several people had already spread out their towels and blankets for the fireworks show Miko pointed to a mountain. “Hold up Optimus, that’s where we’re sitting.”

“Why, is this not where the best viewing will be?” Optimus asked.

“Probably,” Jack shrugged, “but we checked out that mountainside, there’s a perfect spot where people won’t be and you won’t be seen if you transform. You should be able to enjoy the show too Optimus.” Jack summarized.

Wordlessly, Optimus drove up a steep path to their spot for the evening. After making sure there were no humans either on the mountain or in the clearing below who could see him, Optimus transformed as the humans set up their blankets and gestured for him to sit behind them. Optimus carefully sat behind them and soon found them scooting their blankets against his legs and leaning back. Suddenly, a thought struck Raf.

“Optimus, have you ever seen fireworks before?” Raf asked.

“No, and I am unsure of what they are, but they are being used to put on a show this evening correct?” Optimus asked in return.

All three children looked at each other in shock over the blind trust Optimus put in them by allowing them to drag them to their show. “Well, long story short, fireworks used to be weapons made out of chemicals and gunpowder but now we shoot them straight in the air and they explode to make really pretty, and loud, light shows.

Optimus nodded right as his face lit up from the light of the first explosion. 

The next hour was filled with lights of all colors, some of the fireworks went out with a bang while some, a whimper. Every face was filled with wonder, even Optimus' if you looked hard enough. As the finale approached and the sky lit up with fire and the group's noses filled with the smell of smoke the Optimus could do nothing but wonder if one day, after the war, if life could be just this easy. Easy evenings spent with his found family. This was, by far, his favorite evening on Earth. He thought to himself that he was incredibly glad that the rest of Team Prime decided to stay behind. In this moment, Optimus was selfishly enjoying the show and his company, then his overwhelming sense of selflessness returned and he made a note to bring the entire team with them next year.

Optimus' thoughts were interrupted by the end of the show. 

"So, what'd you think?" Miko asked, standing and stretching as she started gathering her blanket.

"Earth never ceases to amaze me." Optimus stated quietly. The three kids shared a smile between themselves, Miko had taken plenty of pictures of everyone's small smiles and looks of pure awe, including Optimus'.

The ride back to base was filled with small talk, of school, Cybertron of old, and of course what they were going to do about MECH.

Thirty minutes into the ride, Miko's eyes finally closed and she fell into a peaceful doze. Jack followed about twenty minutes later.

"Are you unable to sleep Rafael?" Optimus asked softly so as not to disturb the other sleeping passengers.

"I've never slept well in vehicles." Raf answered. "Besides, I've got good company to keep me awake." He grinned and imagined Optimus smiling back. "So you're telling me that you've never seen a Disney movie before?" he asked, bringing back an old topic from earlier in the trip. Optimus' silence was answer enough. "Y'know Miko has been talking about having movie nights at the base for weeks. Maybe once this MECH stuff calms down we'll have to start that up."

Optimus hummed in agreement, "For someone who acts mostly on instinct she does have some excellent ideas."

"Except the idea of following you guys through the Groundbridge once a month." Raf joked.

Miko stirred at the mention of her name, Raf decided that meant he needed to be quiet so she could sleep. Soon, he was asleep, a look of contentment on his face.

Optimus' day ended much the way it began. Peacefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the end got sappier than anticipated. So far I think I have enough ideas to make this thing 10-14 chapters. I would love to do a few chapters focusing on just one of the three kids and Optimus because as great as TFP was it gave us very little of that. If you have any ideas for that let me know! Thank you for reading and for all the ideas you've given me so far!


	5. There's Snow Place Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A behind the scenes of the end of the episode "Scrapheap"

“It’s 9 million degrees here.” Miko announced fanning herself and attempting to tie her hair up.

“Wow, I hadn’t noticed.” Jack deadpanned, Miko rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. “There’s gotta be something we can do about this broken AC.” As Jack finished his statement Optimus made his way to the main area of the base. The three children were spread as far apart from each other as they could and were noticeably doing everything they could to cool off.

“Optimus are you not hot?” Raf asked, grabbing his bottle of water and taking a sip before putting in on his forehead in an effort to cool off.

“Yeah, like I said 9. Million. Degrees.” Miko added, finally getting her hair where she wanted it.

“Miko, my temperature readings indicate that it isn’t 9 million degrees but it is 87 degrees Fahrenheit which is relatively high but not fatal as 9 million degrees would be.” Optimus replied. “And to answer your question Raf my systems have a different temperature management system so I can function in temperatures far more severe than this one.”

“Lucky.” Raf muttered as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Miko hopped off the couch. “I’m going to find Bulkhead to see if he’s free. Anywhere’s gotta be cooler than here.”

Jack stood as Miko left, “Miko’s got a point, I bet Arcee’d get a nice breeze right about now.” 

Soon the rumbles if engines were heard and Bulkhead and Arcee sped out of the base to at least distract Jack and Miko from the heat. Unfortunately, Bumblebee was on patrol for a few more hours, leaving Raf to try to cool himself off at the base.

After 20 minutes of the oppressing heat Raf turned to Optimus. “Hey do you think you could drive me home, this is the sweatiest I’ve ever been and Ratchet doesn’t need me to help with the computers today.”

“I may have a better solution.” Optimus responded. He turned to the Groundbridge controls and entered coordinates that Raf couldn’t see. “If I were you, I would put my vest back on.” Optimus offered, a small smile forming.

Rafael picked up his vest and shuddered as he put it back on. When he turned around to see what Optimus had planned, he saw that the giant had somehow slipped through the Groundbridge without him noticing. Before Raf could get to an angle to see the coordinates Optimus had entered into the computer, the titan had returned, with something in his hand. 

“Optimus, where’d you go?”, Raf asked. Optimus’ booming footsteps paused in from of the tween and he knelt down to show Raf what was in his hand. “No way…”, the boy’s jaw dropped in shock when he saw the massive pile of snow that gave a satisfying plop as it fell from Optimus’ hand to the floor. 

“I believe I promised you a snowball sometime ago. While we were all a little… too indisposed to enjoy this Earth phenomenon at the time, I figured today of all days would be a sound opportunity to make up for my broken promise.” Optimus had a small smile on his face as Raf walked up to the pile and placed his hands into the pile. Picking up snow and letting it fall through his fingers back into the pile. 

With a disbelieving laugh Raf responded, “I wouldn’t call it a broken promise, maybe just a delayed one.” Raf paused for a second as he trudged into the pile until he was about knee-deep. “Hey Optimus can you call Bulkhead and Arcee back to base? Jack and Miko would love this too.” Optimus smiled as he rose to his feet and commed for the others to return.  
\-----------  
Ten minutes later Bulkhead and Arcee rolled back into base, complaining charges in tow.

“C’mon Bulk, why’d you bring me back to the literal equator?” Miko asked, already fanning herself with an ice cream cone in hand. “Wha-?!” she exclaimed when she was suddenly hit by a snowball.

As Miko picked the bits of snow out of her hair, she heard faint laughter from a pile of snow in the center of the base. She looked up to Optimus who was watching the fight unfold with a paternal glimmer in his optics. “No harm to humans, huh Optimus?” Miko joked as she scrambled to the snow pile and jumped behind Raf’s small fort. She quickly threw together a snowball and hurled it at Jack right as he took off his motorcycle helmet.

“Hey!” he exclaimed, laughing, as he ran to the pile, dodging snowballs and quickly hurling snow at the two younger children. 

Arcee managed to maneuver Jack’s phone so that she could snap some photos of the three playing high schoolers. “What? June would want pictures.” she quipped at Bulkhead’s raised optic ridge.

The kids continued to go through every snow day activity they could think of: building snowmen, making snow angels, having another snowball fight. Before they knew it, their snow pile was smaller, a lot smaller.

“Awww, the snow’s starting to melt.” Miko whined kicking at a puddle that used to be her snow replica of Bulkhead. Jack and Raf nodded solemnly. Raf scooped up one more handful of snow before squeezing it into a ziploc back that he was using to store his daily snack and stuck it into the freezer of the base’s fridge. 

“We should probably clean up before Ratchet sees this.” Jack sighed.

“What- in the name of Cybertron is this scrap?!” Ratchet shouted upon seeing the mostly melted pile of slush that covered the floor of the base. Optimus stepped in between the towering medic and the children before he could snap at them.

“Old friend, I brought the snow here, if we are to have the children here, we must insure that they’re comfortable and if that isn’t possible then..” Optimus gestured towards the mostly melted snow pile. “We do what we can to distract them.” he finished, the corners of his mouth turning up in a small smile.

Ratchet scoffed, losing the will to fight, he rolled his eyes. “Well, then you can help them clean up.” Ratchet offered with a small grin as he noticed the soaked, but noticeably less sweaty children. Ratchet walked out of the room, complaining about some other thing about the base he had to fix.

Optimus turned to the children who had grabbed mops and began moving to the newly formed giant puddle on the floor of the base. “Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee will take you three home as it is still rather warm, I can take care of cleaning the base.” The children lit up, thanking Optimus. “Unfortunately, I will ask that you remain away from the base until we can get the air conditioning system fixed.” The children slumped before nodding, remembering how the base did little to protect them from the heat of the day. They bid Optimus goodnight before making their way to their respective guardians.

Before he left, Raf walked up to Optimus. “Hey Optimus,” Optimus turned from his cleaning to see what he had to say. “Thanks for this.” Raf pointed to the tunnel. “I’d never seen snow before, or held it, and it’s just cool that you… remembered.” Raf quickly gave the bottom of Optimus’ leg a hug. Slightly surprised by the affection, Optimus placed a gentle hand behind Raf’s back and awkwardly cleared his throat. 

Raf turned to leave and threw one last wave over his shoulder at Optimus. Later, as Bumblebee pulled up into his driveway, Raf opened his phone to see the pictures from Jack. Raf smirked at a photo of the three children laughing while throwing snowballs with Optimus proudly observing in the background. “Funny” Raf thought, “Optimus looks so much younger than he normally does. He looks like for once he’s not carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read everyone! I'm on break for a bit so I'll try to write some before life gets hectic again. Thank you for all the views, comments, bookmarks, and support!


	6. Mandatory Downtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus is injured and will have to sit out on some missions. The kids mission? Keep Optimus occupied during the first chunk of free time he's had since Cybertron. (will be multiple parts)

Some days with the Autobots were straight out of a coming-of age story. With life lessons, laughs, mistakes, but most importantly, strong friendships. Some days felt like a sit-com with something utterly ridiculous happening and shenanigans that the protagonist must come together to resolve. Some days it was a sci-fi action movie, this was what Miko first compared her situation to when meeting giant, alien robots. Though today, Miko thought. It’s more like a tragedy. 

The day had started like any other. The ‘Bots went on a mission to stop the Decepticons from unearthing a massive ship that would’ve shaken a city of 600,000 people. Miko breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Bulkhead’s voice crackled over the comms delivering the news of a successful mission but it was soon followed with a report of a ‘Bot down. 

The air seemed to be sucked from the room as the Groundbridge was opened and the blood drained from Raf, Jack, and Miko’s faces. Bulkhead and Bumblebee rushed into the base supporting a barely conscious Optimus Prime with Arcee taking up the back to make sure they weren’t being followed. Ratchet closed the Groudbridge and the Autobots made their way quickly to the medbay. Raf and Miko jumped up to follow but Jack put up his arms to stop them and shook his head. The other two stood down, they’d just be in the way if they followed. Arcee saw the movement and held up a finger to indicate that she’ll be there to explain everything in a moment. The kids nodded in response and Arcee seemed to visibly relax though her face still showed tension as she made her way to the medbay.

Over the next three hours, the kids sat tensely in the main hub of the base, staying out of the medbay and out from underfoot. About every hour one of the Bots would come out from the medbay to give them an update and they all went along the lines of “Optimus is being stabilized but there’s no way to know quite what the damage would be.” Soon Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Arcee were waiting with them, staying out of Ratchet’s way all dealing with their anxiety in their own way.

After two hours of painful waiting, Ratchet emerged from the medbay looking exhausted, a few years older, but most importantly, relieved. Everyone sat up or stood taller from their perches as Ratchet sighed before speaking. “The good news is that Optimus is stabilized, but the bad news is I won’t be able to determine the damage done to him until he wakes up… which I am unsure of when he’ll do that.”

A silence overtook the room as everyone pondered the situation before them. Optimus was the posterboy of strength and it was difficult for everyone to think about him not being alright.

The rest of the night continued much of the same way. The air almost seemed thick with uncertainty and even seemed to slow the movements of the base’s occupants. Except for the steady rise and fall of Optimus’ frame as he continued to vent in stasis.

The kids ended up spending that night at the base, calling to their respective homes with some excuse about staying over at a friend’s house and soon hunkered down on the couch. The Bots seemed relieved to not have to leave the base for drop off and although they couldn’t do anything the kids were more at ease that they could lay eyes on Optimus, and really make sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

The next morning Jack awoke to a shuffling sound somewhere in the base. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched, taking in the base and Raf and Miko’s sleeping forms. When Jack realized the shuffling was coming from the medbay he quietly jumped to his feet and made his way to see what the commotion was. A surge of relief flowed through Jack when he saw Optimus awake and trying to work himself into a seated position, but his stomach sank again when he really saw what the Decepticons did to him. Optimus had a huge gash covering his right side and right arm, his left leg was crushed and Jack could see that Optimus was refusing to move the mangled limb. The worst part was the large gash that covered the right side of his face, his optic even seemed damaged as Optimus kept it closed.

Jack froze in the doorway when Optimus locked eyes with optic. Despite his wounds Optimus smiled warmly, although faintly, at the adolescent. 

Seeing as Optimus seemed aware, Jack greeted, “Good morning.”. Upon seeing the confusion cross Optimus’ faceplates Jack answered the unasked question, “You’ve been out for about 17 hours. You took a bad hit and actually you probably shouldn’t be sitting up. Let me go get Ratchet.”

“He’s right.” Ratchet answered, entering the medbay before Jack could even take a step. “I’m glad to see you awake, but you need your rest. Lay down while I run some scans, you gave us quite the scare.”

Optimus noticed Jack’s face darken and pondered the worry he caused his team and the children. Footsteps were heard echoing down the halls and soon Miko and Raf entered the medbay. Both froze in the door when they saw the damage done to Optimus. 

“Whoa” Miko breathed.

“I assure you that I look worse than I am.” Optimus soothed.

“False” Ratchet said without looking up from his monitors. “You sustained immense damage and were very close to not rejoining us Optimus. You’re not leaving the berth until I clear you and then you have some serious rehabilitating to do to get back into the field.” The harsh truth sat heavily in the room. Ratchet saw the children getting visibly upset and Optimus’ glare when he noticed the same.

“I apologize, that came out harsher than I intended, but Optimus you must take your health seriously. And although your condition is severe, Optimus you should be out of the woods as long as you properly recover.” Ratchet rectified.

The kids seemed to brighten up a little when the worry of Optimus dying dissipated. “Hey, that just means we have to keep you occupied while you’re stuck here.” Miko offered. For once Jack and Raf seemed to agree with her.

Ratchet rolled his eyes. “Yes yes, that’s wonderful. Until then, leave him to rest, I’m going to update the others on Optimus’ condition.” Ratchet left the room and the kids soon followed.

Raf sent a wave over his shoulder as he left the medbay, Miko threw up dual peace signs and a bright smile. Jack was last to leave and left the room with a “See you later.” and a respectful nod. With that Optimus shut his optics and started the long healing process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's been a while! Since I have more time and inspiration I'm back for a while and plan to update the story and do an arc I've been planning since the beginning lol. Thank you all for the continued support and I'd love to see what you guys think the kids and Optimus could get up to. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoys the read!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed. If you have any suggestions for future chapters, let me know! (I have no idea how long this is going to be, it depends how many ideas I can come up with)


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